It has been reported that landfilling remains one of the most common way to dispose of municipal solid waste (“MSW”) in the United States. According to certain United States Environmental Protection Agency statistics, of the 250.0 million tons of MSW generated in 2010, 136 million tons (54.2%) were landfilled. Residential waste (including waste from apartment houses) can account for approximately 55% to 65% of total MSW generation, and waste from commercial and institutional locations, such as businesses, schools, and hospitals can amount to approximately 35% to 45% of total MSW generation.
In the U.S., it is reported that approximately 34.1% of MSW consists of principally durable goods, such as aluminum, other non-ferrous metals, glass, plastics, wood, etc., and containers and packaging. As an example, the EPA has estimated that nine million refrigerators end up in landfills each year. Consumer materials—e.g., such as non-recyclable plastics—further contribute to the problem.
Additionally, construction and demolition materials (“C&D”), consisting of bulky, heavy materials, such as concrete, wood, metals, glass, and salvaged building components, generated during the construction, renovation, and demolition of buildings, roads, and bridges, and generates a substantial amount of landfilled materials.
These bulky materials often are items that have very little recyclable value or have limited reuse value due to a number of factors, including size, volume and material makeup. If these bulky items where sheared and shredded, the once bulky items could be used or repurposed as recyclable filler in products such as concrete (e.g., lightweight concrete), as refuse derived fuel, or other uses. Even if these once bulky items ultimately end up in landfills, considerable space would be saved as compared to the items in their original bulky states.
There are existing methods of causing MSW to be prepared for recycling purposes and for reuse. Currently, MSW items are sorted and characterized at transfer stations prior to sending MSW to a landfill. The end result is that only a small faction of the MSW actually is either reused or recycled. After a step after the sorting and characterization procedures, the shearing and shredding items can be marked for recycling, e.g., bottles, containers, plastics and the like, and transportation of these recycling items (once sheared and shredded), immediately increases the efficiency of transportation due to the reduced volume of these recyclable items. Additionally, by adding a step of shearing and shredding items after the sorting and characterization procedures, and determining what MSW is earmarked for landfills, the volume of items that are ultimately deposited into landfills is reduced but, more importantly, a large amount of these items now can be used for other purposes due to their reduced size.
Much of MSW are items that have very little recyclable value or have limited reuse value due to a number of factors, including size and volume. Without improvements in the current systems, procedures, and methods for dealing with MSW, the overall process will continue to be sub-optimal.